A Pakistani teenager finds himself uplifted by the music of Bruce Springsteen in Director Gurinder Chadha’s new comedic-drama, Blinded by the Light.
Chadha’s film tells the story Javed, a British teen of Pakistani descent growing up in 1987 England amidst the racial and economic turmoil of the times of the Thatcher era. To escape the intolerance of his hometown and the inflexibility of his traditional father, he writes poetry and has his world turned upside down when a classmate introduces him to the music of “The Boss.” Finding parallels to his working-class life in Springsteen’s powerful lyrics, Javed discovers an outlet for his own pent-up dreams, but caught in between two worlds, he must discover if he too is Born to Run.
Following the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles on August 11, Chadha sat down with Director Catherine Hardwicke (Miss Bala) to discuss the making of Blinded by the Light.
In addition to Blinded by the Light, Chadha’s credits include the feature films Bhaji on the Beach, Bend It Like Beckham, Bride & Prejudice, It's a Wonderful Afterlife and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging; and episodes of the series Beecham House. She became a DGA member in 2003.
You can listen to Chadha's Q&A by clicking the podcast episode embedded below. You can find more DGA podcast episodes here.